CHAPTER V

THE VALIANT DEEDS OF DIOMED

When the armies were come into one place, they dashed together with buckler and spear: and there was a great crash of shields that met. Next rose up a great moaning of them that were stricken down, and shouting of the conquerors; and the ground ran with blood. As when two torrents, swollen with rains of winter, join their waters in a hollow ravine at the meeting of the glens, and the shepherds hear the din far off among the hills, even so, with a mighty noise and great confusion, did the two armies meet.

Then did the Greeks beat back the men of Troy. And each of the chiefs slew a foe; but there was none like Diomed, who raged through the battle so furiously that you could not tell with which host he was, whether with the Greeks or with the sons of Troy. Then Pandarus aimed an arrow at him, and smote him in the right shoulder as he was rushing forward, and cried aloud: "On, great-hearted sons of Troy, the bravest of the Greeks is wounded! Soon, methinks, will his strength fail him, unless Apollo has deceived me."

So he spake exulting, but the arrow quelled not Diomed. Only he leapt down from the chariot, and spake to Sthenelus, his charioteer, "Come down, and draw this arrow from my shoulder." Then Sthenelus drew it, and the blood spurted out from the wound. And Diomed prayed to Athene: "O Goddess, if ever thou didst love my father, and stand beside him in the fiery war, be thou a friend to me also; let me come within a spear's cast of this man who hath wounded me, and who boasteth himself over me, saying that I shall not long look upon the shining of the sun."

Sthen'-e-lus.

So he prayed, and Athene heard; and she made light his hands and his feet, and stood beside him, and spake: "Be bold now, O Diomed, and fight with the men of Troy! I have breathed into thy heart the spirit that was in thy father, and I have taken away the mist that was upon thy eyes, that thou mayest know god from man. Fight not thou with any of the immortals, if a god should come in thy way; only if Aphrodite comes into the battle, her thou mayest wound."

So spake Athene, and went her way; and Diomed turned back to the battle, and mingled with the foremost. Eager he had been before to fight, but now his eagerness was increased threefold. Even as a lion whom a shepherd wounds a little as he leaps into the fold, but kills not, and the man escapes into his house, and the sheep flee in their terror, falling huddled in a heap, even so did Diomed rage among the men of Troy.

Æneas saw him, and thought how he might stay him in his course. So he passed through the host till he found Pandarus. "Pandarus," he said, "where are thy bow and arrows? See how this man deals death through the ranks. Send a shaft at him, first making thy prayer to Zeus."

Æ-ne'-as.

Then Pandarus answered: "This man, methinks, is Diomed. The shield and the helmet and the horses are his. And yet I know not whether he is not a god. Some god, at least, stands by him and guards him. But now I sent an arrow at him, and smote him on the shoulder, right through the corselet, and thought that I had slain him; but lo! I have harmed him not at all. And now I know not what to do, for here I have no chariot. I came, trusting in my bow, and lo! it has failed me these two times. Two of the chiefs I have hit, Menelaus and Diomed, and from each have seen the red blood flow, yet have I not harmed them. Surely, if ever I return safe to my home, I will break this useless bow."

"Nay," said Æneas, "talk not thus. Climb into my chariot, and see what horses we have in Troy. They will carry us safe to the city, even should Diomed prevail against us. Take thou the rein and the whip, and I will fight; or, if thou wilt, fight thou, and I will drive."

"Nay," said Pandarus, "let the horses have the driver whom they know. It might lose us both, should we turn to flee, and they linger or start aside, missing their master's voice."

So Pandarus mounted the chariot, and they drove together against Diomed. And Sthenelus saw them coming, and said to his comrades: "I see two mighty warriors. It would be well that we should go back to our chariot."

But Diomed frowned, and said: "Talk not of going back. Thou wilt talk in vain to me. As for my chariot, I care not for it. As I am will I go against these men. Both shall not return safe, even if one should escape. But do thou stay my chariot where it is, tying the reins to the rail; and if I slay these men, mount the chariot of Æneas and drive it into the host of the Greeks, There are no horses under the sun such as these, for they are of the breed which Zeus himself gave to King Tros."

Meanwhile Pandarus and Æneas were coming near, and Pandarus cast his spear. Right through the shield of Diomed it passed, and reached the corselet, and Pandarus cried:--

"Thou art hit in the loin. This, methinks, will lay thee low."

"Nay," said Diomed, "thou hast missed and not hit at all."

And as he spake he threw his spear. Through nose and teeth and tongue it passed, and stood out below the chin. Headlong from the chariot he fell, and his armour clashed about him. Straightway Æneas leapt off with spear and shield to guard the body of his friend, and stood as a lion stands over a carcass. But Diomed lifted a great stone, such as two men of our day could scarcely carry, and cast it. It struck Æneas on the hip, crushing the bone. The hero stooped on his knee, clutching the ground with his hand, and darkness covered his eyes. That hour he would have perished, but his mother Aphrodite caught him in her white arms, and threw her veil about him. But even so, Diomed was loath to let his foe escape, and he rushed on her and wounded her on the wrist, and the blood gushed out--such blood as flows in the veins of the immortal gods, who eat not the meat and drink not the drink of men. With a loud shriek she dropped her son, but Apollo caught him up and covered him with a dark mist, lest perchance one of the Greeks should spy him and slay him.

But Diomed called aloud after Aphrodite: "Haste thee from the battle, daughter of Zeus. It is enough for thee to beguile weak women."

Wildly did the goddess rush from the battle. And Iris, swift as the winds, took her by the hand, and led her out of the press, for she was tormented with the pain. She found Ares on the left of the field, and knelt before him, begging for his horses with many prayers. "Help me, dear brother," she said, "and lend me thy horses to carry me to Olympus, for I am tormented with a wound which a mortal man gave me, even Diomed, who would fight with Father Zeus himself."

A'-res.

Then Ares gave her his chariot, and Iris took the reins, and touched the horses with the whip. Speedily came they to Olympus, and then Iris reined in the horses, and Aphrodite fell on the lap of her mother Dione, who took her daughter in her arms, and caressed her, saying:--

"Dear child, which of the immortals hath harmed thee thus?"

Aphrodite answered, "No immortal hath done it, but a mortal man, even Diomed, who now fighteth with the immortal gods."

But Dione answered: "Bear up and endure thy pain, for many who dwell in Olympus have suffered pain at the hands of mortal men."

Di-o'-ne.

So spake she, and wiped the moisture from the wound with both her hands, and the grievous hurt was healed. But Hera and Athene looked on and mocked. And Athene said to Zeus, "Now hath thy daughter been moving one of the Greek women to follow the Trojans whom she loveth so well, and lo! she hath wounded her hand with the pin of a golden brooch."

But the father smiled, and called Aphrodite to him, and said, "My child, deeds of war are not for thee, but love and marriage; leave the rest to Athene and Ares."

Meanwhile Diomed sprang upon Æneas, though he knew that Apollo himself held him. He regarded not the god, for he was eager to slay the hero and to strip off his arms. Thrice he sprang, and thrice Apollo dashed back his shining shield. The fourth time Apollo warned him with awful words, "Beware, Diomed, and fall back, nor think to match thyself with gods." But Apollo carried Æneas out of the battle, and laid him down in his own temple in the citadel of Troy, and there he was healed of his wound. And all the while the Trojans and the Greeks were fighting, as they thought, about his body, for Apollo had made a likeness of the hero and thrown it down in their midst. Then Sarpedon spake to Hector with bitter words:--

Sar-pe'-don.

"Where are thy boasts, Hector? Thou saidst that thou couldst guard thy city, without thy people or thy allies, thou alone, with thy brothers and thy brothers-in-law. But I cannot see even one of them. They go and hide themselves, as dogs before a lion. It is we, your allies, who maintain the battle. I have come from far to help thy people, nor do I shrink from the fight, but thou shouldst do thy part."

And the words stung Hector to the heart. He leapt from his chariot and went through the host, urging them to the battle. And on the other side the Greeks strengthened themselves. But Ares brought back Æneas whole from his wound, and gave him courage and might. Right glad were his comrades to see him, nor did they ask him any question; scant leisure was there for questions that day. Then were done many valiant deeds nor did any bear himself more bravely than Æneas.

But all the while Hector, with Ares at his side, dealt death and destruction through the ranks of the Greeks. Hera and Athene saw him where they sat on the top of Olympus, and were wroth. So they went to Father Zeus, and prayed that it might be lawful to them to stop him in his fury. And Zeus said, "Be it as you will." So they yoked the horses to the chariot of Hera and passed down to earth, the horses flying at every stride over so much space as a man sees who sits upon a cliff and looks across the sea to where it meets the sky. They alighted on the spot where the two rivers join their streams. There they loosed the horses from the yoke, and then sped like doves to where the bravest of the Greeks stood round King Diomed. There Hera took the shape of Stentor with the lungs of bronze, whose voice was as the voice of fifty men, and cried: "Shame, men of Greece! When Achilles went to the battle, the men of Troy came not beyond the gates, but now they fight far from the city, even by the ships." But Athene went to Diomed, where he stood wiping away the blood from the wound where Pandarus had struck him with the arrow. And she spake: "Surely the son of Tydeus is little like to his sire. Small of stature was he, but a keen fighter. But thou--whether it be weariness or fear that keeps thee back I know not--canst scarcely be a true son of Tydeus."

Ty'-deus.

But Diomed answered: "Nay, great goddess, for I know thee who thou art, daughter of Zeus, it is not weariness or fear that keeps me back. 'Tis thy own command that I heed. Thou didst bid me fight with none other of the immortal gods but only with Aphrodite, should she come to the battle. Therefore I give place, for I see Ares lording it through the ranks of war."

Then Athene spake: "Heed not Ares; drive thy chariot at him, and smite him with the spear. This very morning he promised that he would help the Greeks, and now he hath changed his purpose."

And as she spake she pushed Sthenelus, who drove the chariot, so that he leapt out upon the ground, and she mounted herself and caught the reins and lashed the horses. But Athene had donned the helmet of Hades, which whosoever puts on straightway becomes invisible, for she would not that Ares should see who she was. The god saw Diomed come near, and cast his spear over the yoke of the chariot, eager to slay the hero. But Athene caught the spear in her hand, and turned it aside, so that it flew vainly through the air. Then Diomed in turn thrust forward his spear, and Athene leant upon it, so that it pierced the loin of Ares, where his girdle was clasped. And Ares shouted with the pain, loud as a host of men, thousands nine or ten, shouts when it joins in battle. And the Greeks and Trojans trembled as they heard. And Diomed saw the god go up to Olympus as a thunder-cloud goes up when the wind of the south blows hot.

Ha'-des, the god of the underworld.

By the side of Zeus did he sit down, and showed the immortal blood as it flowed from the wound, and cried: "Father Zeus, canst thou contain thyself, seeing such deeds as these? See now this daughter of thine, how she is bent on evil and mischief. All we that dwell in Olympus are obedient to thee; but her thou checkest not with word or deed. And now she hath set on this bold Diomed to wreak his madness on the immortal gods: first he wounded Aphrodite on the wrist; then he rushed on me; my swift feet bare me away, else surely I had suffered the pains of death among the carcasses of the slain."

But Zeus frowned on him, and spake: "Come not to me with thy complaints, for of all the Olympian gods thou vexest me the most, for battle and strife are ever dear to thee. 'Tis thy mother Hera that hath put thee to this pain. Yet I may not suffer thee to endure the anguish any more, for thou art my child."

Then Zeus called Pæon the healer, and bade him tend the wound; and he cured it of its smart. Then Hebe gave to Ares the bath, and clad him in fair array, and he sat down by Zeus, rejoicing.

Pæ'-on. He'-be.